Using RingStock

RingStock keeps your show string in your pocket: every animal by ear tag, what to feed and when, weights and gain, shows, health, buyers, money, and the record book at the end of the season. The same herd shows up on your phone and on RingStock for Windows.

Getting started

Your first animal

1. Open the Herd tab and tap + Add animal.
2. Enter the ear tag. That's the one thing every animal needs; everything else can wait.
3. Pick the species, then breed and sex (the lists change with the species), date of birth, and where the animal lives (pen, barn, or pasture).
4. Add up to four photos with the camera or from your photo library.

The setup checklist

Until you've added an animal, set a feeding, logged a weigh-in, and added your next show, Home shows a short Get started checklist. Tap a step to do it. The checklist goes away once all four are done, or tap Hide. If you stop partway, the phone sends one reminder the next evening.

Finding an animal fast

Type any part of a tag or name in the search box at the top of Herd. The Tag first opening screen (see Settings) puts a number pad on the home screen so a tag opens the animal in two taps.

Choosing your opening screen

In Settings → Opening screen pick what the Home tab shows: Today (next feeding, what's due, quick actions), Tag first (a number pad), Barn board (the herd by pen, with photos and feed times), or Show string (the animals headed to the ring, with the next show). Change it any time.

Local weather

Enter your farm ZIP code in Settings → Farm location and the opening screen shows current conditions, the next few forecast periods, and any National Weather Service alerts for your area. RingStock also works out a livestock warning from the temperature, humidity, and wind: a heat stress alert, danger, or emergency in hot weather, and a wind chill warning in cold weather. The ZIP code is saved to your account, so the phone, Windows, and browser versions all show the same place. Weather covers United States ZIP codes and needs an internet connection; the rest of the app keeps working without one.

Signing in

RingStock uses a free account. The first time the app opens, create one or sign in. Your herd is backed up to it, works on more than one phone and on Windows or the browser, and can be shared with family and your advisor. If your FFA advisor or 4-H leader gave you a class code, type it in the Class code box when you create the account. Records already on the phone from an older version are kept and go up to the new account. Account details are under Settings → RingStock Account.

Your herd

The Herd tab lists every animal with tag, name, breed, age, and current weight.

• Filter with the chips: status (Active, Show, Sold, Deceased) and species (Cattle, Pig, Sheep, Goat, Horse). An animal without a photo shows its species icon.
• Status is yours to set. Show is for animals headed to the ring this season; the Show string home screen and show calendar use it. Sold and Deceased animals stay on record but drop off feed schedules.
• Print or email the list exactly as filtered with the buttons above the list.

An animal's page

Tap any animal to open its page. From top to bottom:

• Photos, up to four. Tap one to see it full size; they sync to every device.
• Identity: tag, name, species, breed, sex, color, location, status, sale price. Edit changes any of it.
• Age & genetics: birth date, age, sire, dam, registration number, and a free-text box for EPDs or DNA results.
• Weights: birth, weaning, current, and average daily gain, with a growth chart once there are two weigh-ins.
• Feed schedule: this animal's feedings by time, with the daily total.
• Show record, Health, Potential buyers, and Expenses & income: each with its own + Add.
• Animal sheet: the whole page as a printable one-pager, from Print and Email at the top.

Feed schedule & recipes

Recipes (rations)

In Settings → Feed recipes build each ration once: a name and its ingredients with amounts, one per line, like 8 lb Cracked corn. Recipes are shared across the herd.

Feeding an animal

On the animal's page tap + Add feeding: a time, a recipe (or none), an amount and unit, and any note ("top-dress with beet pulp"). Add one line per feeding time.

Each feeding has a Repeats setting:

• Every day: the usual.
• Some days: pick the days of the week, like a supplement on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
• One day only: show day, a weigh-in morning, or anything off the regular schedule.

Every-day and some-days feedings can also have a start date and an end date. To change a ration partway through the season, open the feeding and use Change starting a date… (Change from… on the animal page on Windows). Pick the day the new ration starts: the current feeding ends the day before, and a copy starting that day opens so you can set the new ration or amount. The record book keeps both, so the feed history stays accurate. On Windows, pick the days with the day buttons, and use the same date for Starts and Ends for a one-day feeding.

The herd feed schedule

The Feed tab shows the whole herd's feedings three ways:

• By time: the order you walk the barn in. Everyone eating at 6:00, then everyone at 5:30.
• By animal: each animal's full day, with its location.
• By location: pen by pen, every animal there and what it gets.

Pick the day (Today, Tomorrow, or a date) to see only the feedings on the schedule that day. For more than one day, choose This week or set From and To dates (up to 62 days). Each day gets its own section with its own total, and you can check off any day that has already come. Printing a range gives one page per day, handy for a helper while you are away; the spreadsheet copy has a Date column. The printed sheet says Feed on Saturday, September 12 so a helper knows which day it's for. The printout has a check box per feeding and does not include recipe ingredients; those are on the Recipes screen.

Checking off feedings

For today or any past day, each feeding has ✓ Fed, Skip, and Different amount (Other amount on Windows) for when it ate more or less than planned. The top of the list counts how many are fed, skipped, and still to go. Undo clears a check-off and Change fixes the amount.

The record book uses what you check off. Days with check-offs count what was actually fed (skipped feedings count as nothing), and days without any use the schedule for that day. The record book says how many days came from your log.

Show calendar & prep checklist

Phone: Settings → Show calendar, or the show ribbon on the Show string home screen. Windows: Shows in the left menu.

Adding a show

Tap + Add a show: name, location, start and end dates, the entry deadline, and notes (stall assignment, arrival time, who's driving). Then tick which animals are going; the show string is pre-selected.

The prep checklist

Every show starts with a checklist: entry form and fee, health papers, registration papers, stall reservation, truck and trailer, show box, adhesives, halters and show stick, feed and hay, water gear, bedding, final clip, check-in time. Tick items off as you go, add your own, and remove what doesn't apply. The countdown and the number done show on the calendar.

Reminders

RingStock reminds you three days before the entry deadline and on the day, the evening before the show, and show morning. Allow notifications when asked.

After the show

Open the show, tap an animal, and enter class, placing, head in class, weigh-in weight, and judge. Results appear on the animal's page too.

The prep sheet

Print or Email on a show gives you a packing sheet: details, the animals entered with current weights, and the checklist with boxes.

Weights & gain

Tap + Weigh-in on an animal and enter the date and weight. RingStock works out average daily gain overall and since the last weigh-in, and draws the growth curve. Birth and weaning weights on the Identity card count as the first points.

Health & reminders

Tap + Add record on an animal: type (vaccination, treatment, deworming, checkup, injury), the product and dose, withdrawal days, and when it's next due. Anything with a next-due date shows up in Settings → View health due and on the Today home screen, and you get a reminder at 8 AM that morning.

Withdrawal days matter before a sale or show weigh-in: the health record on the animal sheet lists them, so the buyer or the fair vet can see them.

RingStock keeps records and reminders. It is not veterinary advice. Follow the product label and your veterinarian for doses and withdrawal times.

Barn tasks

Phone: the Barn tasks tile on the Today home screen, or Settings → Barn tasks. Windows: Barn tasks in the left menu.

Chores with a due date and, if you like, the animal they're for: rinse and blow dry, walk the pig, order feed, book the vet. Set a task to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly, and checking it off moves it to the next date.

• Overdue tasks and today's tasks show on the Today home screen with everything else that's due.
• You get a reminder at 8 AM on the day a task is due.
• Print or Email a chore sheet for whoever is helping in the barn.

Expenses & income

Per animal on its page. The whole herd: phone Settings → Expenses & income; Windows Money.

Record what you spend and what comes in, per animal or for the herd. Expense categories: feed, vet, supplies, entry fees, equipment, transport, purchase, other. Income: sale, premium, other. Each entry has a date, an amount, who it was paid to or received from, and a note.

• The animal's page shows expenses, income, net, and cost per pound of gain (expenses divided by pounds gained since birth).
• The herd Money screen shows a year at a time: totals by category, by animal, and every entry, with print and email.
• Record the purchase as an expense in the Purchase category and the sale as income in the Sale category. The record book uses those two dates.

4-H / FFA record book

On an animal's page, the 4-H / FFA record book button in the Expenses & income card.

The project record in the layout record books ask for: project information (member, club, county, leader, year, the animal, dates acquired and ended, days on feed), weight and gain, feed expenses, other expenses, income, a financial summary with profit or loss and break-even price per pound, health, shows, a weight log, a page for what you learned, and signature lines.

• Fill in the member details once; RingStock remembers them for the next book.
• The project period defaults to purchase date through sale date when those are recorded, otherwise first through last weigh-in. Change the dates and everything in the book follows.
• Average daily gain is the gain between the first and last weigh-ins in the period, divided by the days between those two weigh-ins (shown as Days between weigh-ins).
• The feed-fed figure is estimated from the feed schedule (pounds per day times days on feed) and says so. Feed cost is exact when you log feed purchases.
• The Before you print card lists anything the book is missing: no member name, fewer than two weigh-ins, weigh-ins outside the project dates, no purchase or feed expenses, feed in units that can't be added up, or a sold animal without a sale entry. When it says Ready to print, every section has what it needs.
• Print for the binder, or Email to send the PDF and a Word copy to a leader who wants to make edits.

Record book requirements differ by state, county, and program. RingStock fills in the standard sections, but check your local forms and use the Word copy to make final edits before you turn it in.

Contacts & buyers

Contacts

The Contacts tab holds buyers, breeders, vets, and associations: name, phone, email, town, notes, and a next follow-up date that sets a reminder. Tap a phone number to call or text. You can pull someone in from your phone's address book.

Potential buyers

On an animal's page, + Add buyer links a contact to that animal with a status (interested, offered, declined, sold), an offer, a date, and notes. Log calls and texts on the contact's page so you remember what was said.

While a buyer is interested or has made an offer, set Follow up on to the day you want to check back. That offer shows under Due on Home when the day comes, and on the phone you get a reminder that morning. The reminder stops once the buyer is marked Sold or Declined.

Pipeline

The Pipeline tab shows every animal with interest, where each conversation stands, and when you said you'd follow up (red when overdue). Mark one Sold and RingStock offers to set the animal's status and sale price for you.

Printing & emailing reports

Every report has two buttons: Print and Email.

• Print opens your phone's print screen (AirPrint on iPhone) for any printer on your Wi-Fi. On Windows it opens the normal print dialog.
• Email opens a new message with the PDF and a Word copy already attached. On Windows the draft opens in your mail program; if no mail program answers, the files are saved in Documents → RingStock Reports and RingStock tells you where.

Reports available: herd list (as filtered), animal sheet, sale handoff packet, feed schedule (by time, animal, or location, for a chosen day), show prep sheet, expenses & income for a year, and the record book. Settings also has a CSV export of the herd for Excel or Google Sheets.

The sale handoff packet

On an animal's page, next to the animal sheet. It's the record that goes home with an animal you sell: identity and pedigree, any withdrawal still in effect, the full health history with the date each withdrawal ends, weights and average daily gain, the feed program with each ration's ingredients, the show record, and your notes. Prices, offers, and buyer details are left out. Print it to hand over at pickup or email it to the new family.

Sharing your herd

Settings → Herd sharing on the phone and on Windows. Needs a RingStock account.

Every account owns one herd. The owner can let other people into it by email, and everyone sees the same animals, photos, feed, shows, health, buyers, and money on their own phone or PC.

• Add someone: type their email, choose Can edit or View only, and tap Add to herd. RingStock emails them an invitation from support@ringstock.online. If they already have a RingStock account they're in right away; otherwise they join the moment they create an account with that email. Tap Resend on a waiting invitation to send it again.
• Join your advisor's class: type the class code your FFA advisor or 4-H leader gave you and tap Join class. They're added as View only and see the project on their Roster. Remove them here like anyone else. If you typed the code when you created your account, this is already done.
• Can edit is for a spouse, a kid, or a hired hand. View only suits a 4-H leader, your vet, or a buyer you want to show the whole string to.
• The owner can change anyone's access or remove them. A member can leave on their own; the herd stays with the owner.
• If you belong to more than one herd, they're listed under Other herds you belong to. On Windows, opening another herd just switches the view. On the phone, switching downloads the other herd in place of the one on the phone, so it waits until your edits have synced and disconnects Airtable if it was connected.

Roster for advisors and leaders

Roster in the menu on Windows and in the browser, and Settings → Roster on the iPhone (version 1.2 and later). It appears once a herd is shared with you.

The roster puts every herd shared with you on one screen, with the families that need a look listed first. For each family it shows head count, the four setup steps, the last weigh-in, the next show, and how many record books are ready to print. Click a family to see each animal's latest weight, average daily gain, and what its record book still needs.

• A family is flagged when setup isn't finished, there's been no weigh-in in 30 days, nothing has been entered in 14 days, or a record book needs work.
• Open herd shows that family's records. Back to my herd returns you to your own. On the phone, opening a family's herd downloads it in place of yours until you switch back; your own herd stays safe in the cloud.
• Print or Email the roster for a meeting, or open the spreadsheet copy for one row per animal.
• Member names and club details are saved on the family's own device, so the roster doesn't check them.
• Class code: once you're a verified advisor, your class code is at the top of the roster and on Your plan. Students who type it when they create their account, or under Herd sharing, show up here as View only. Copy class link (or Share the code and link on the phone) sends the student start sheet with your code filled in.

Cloud, offline & backups

• Offline first. Everything is saved on the phone the moment you tap Save, signal or not. When you're signed in, changes go to the cloud a few seconds later and come down to your other devices when they open.
• Sync now in Settings → RingStock Account forces a catch-up and shows the last sync time and anything still waiting.
• Photos upload with the animal and download to any other device, up to four per animal.
• Backup & restore in Settings saves every record (not photos) to a file you can keep in iCloud, Google Drive, or email, and brings it back later, merging or replacing.
• Airtable. If you keep an Airtable base, connect it in Settings → Airtable with a personal access token and RingStock keeps it in step both ways, photos included.

RingStock for Windows

Install RingStock Setup, then sign in with the same account as your phone. The Windows app reads and writes the same cloud herd: what you change on the PC reaches the phone at its next sync, and what you change on the phone shows up on the PC when you come back to the window or press Refresh now in Settings. Reports, the show calendar, money, sharing, and the record book all work the same way, with a proper print dialog and mail attachments.

Settings

• Opening screen: what Home shows.
• RingStock Account: sign in, sync status, sign out, and delete your account.
• Herd sharing: members, invites, other herds.
• Herd: head count, show calendar, health due, feed recipes, expenses & income.
• Reports: the herd feed schedule for a chosen day, in each layout.
• Farm location: your ZIP code for local weather and livestock heat warnings.
• Airtable: connect or disconnect a base.
• Export: CSV of the herd. Backup & Restore: full backup file.
• Help: this guide, inside the app, with or without a signal.
• About RingStock: version, phone model, and Email support with those details filled in.

Questions & fixes

My photos disappeared after an update.

Older versions stored photos by a path that iOS changes on update. Current versions store them by name, so this doesn't happen any more. If you're signed in, photos also come back down from the cloud.

Email opened but nothing was attached.

On iPhone, the Mail app must be set up with an account; other mail apps can't take attachments from RingStock. On Windows, RingStock saves the PDF and Word files in Documents → RingStock Reports whenever it can't hand them to your mail program, and tells you where they are.

It says I have view-only access.

You were added to this herd as view only. Ask the herd owner to change you to Can edit in their Herd sharing settings.

Sync shows an error.

Tap Sync now. Most errors are a dropped connection and clear on the next try. If one keeps coming back, sign out and back in; your data stays on the phone throughout.

The feed schedule doesn't show an animal.

Animals marked Sold or Deceased are left off. Check the animal's status, and that it has at least one feeding.

Reminders aren't showing up.

Open your phone's Settings → Notifications → RingStock and allow notifications. Reminders are set on the phone that made the record.

I signed in with a different account on my phone.

Each phone holds one account's herd. When a different account signs in, the phone switches to that account's herd, and the herd that was there stays safe in its own account's cloud. Sign out first if you have changes waiting to sync; RingStock warns you if you do.

How do I delete my account?

Settings → RingStock Account → Delete account on the phone, or Settings → Delete account on Windows. It removes your account and the cloud copy of every herd you own, including photos. Herds other people shared with you aren't affected. You can also ask at ringstock.online/delete-account.html.

How do I move to a new phone?

Sign in on the new phone with the same account and wait for the first sync. You can also use Back up now on the old phone and Restore from backup on the new one (photos don't travel that way).